Some days you just need

A day shopping with the girls.

And super cute boots from Nordstrom.

And fifty bucks from selling your blood.

And three episodes of White Collar (should I be thanking you or cursing you, Mr. K, for getting me hooked?)

And confirmation that the grant money from your tribe has come through and you will, in fact, be going to college after all.

But mostly you just need this waiting period to end. Enough of this out-of-high-school, not-quite-in-college summer. I'm ready to be an adult! I'm ready to be a Cougar! I'm ready to meet the real me!

Until then, I guess I'll just

#joshuaradin #bloodmoney #bestsistersever

Fantastic night out with my sisters Lucy and Anne (and my brother-in-law G)

Saw Joshua Radin in person (and Tristian Prettyman and My Name Is You.....wow. So good.)

Heard Joshua Radin play my favorite song live.

Met Joshua Radin.

GAVE JOSHUA RADIN A HUG.

Yeah, my life is pretty much tops right now.

Looking for a deal on O Positive?

My three absolute, all-time, hands-down favorite artists (Justin Bieber, Hunter Hayes & Joshua Radin) are all coming to Utah in the next six months. I should be absolutely stoked, right??

Wrong. I'm a poor college student.

BUT THEN.
My beautiful sister Melissa had a brilliant idea.

SELL MY PLASMA TO GET $$ FOR CONCERT TICKETS.
Genius? Genius.

Apparently you can make up to $40 a week selling your plasma. Whodda thunk?

So... Joshua Radin tickets? Check. Next Tuesday. I am so excited.

Yay for summer! Yay for music! Yay for plasma!

Dear BYU

Why do you hate me? All I want is for you to accept my AP scores. . .

This past week I got my AP scores in the mail and did a lot better than I was expecting! But unfortunately, due to some glitch or something, my scores don't appear on my BYU transcripts. Which means that the 22 credits I've earned, not to mention the classes I've tested out of, don't show up. I swear if I have to take Statistics all over again. . . .

But really, I'm getting so pumped for college! I registered for classes a few weeks ago, and I've been looking at the required courses for my major (Family Life with an emphasis in Family Studies). I'm so stoked to take them!! There are just so many interesting things to learn, and I can really dig in deep to the subjects that fascinate me! I can't wait.

Also, I've been emailing a little bit with my roommates. We've made up a list of kitchen supplies we need and are slowly checking off each little addition to our new dorm. They sound like a great bunch of girls and I'm excited to meet them!

And to top everything off, I've FINALLY finished all the paperwork required for my scholarship and the grant from the BIA. BYU is so close I can almost taste it! I just can't wait to be wearing that Cougar blue :)

18

Moonrise Kingdom.
Barbeque.
Bang.
Hercules.
Fighting over constellations.
A "God Bless America" cake.
Running through a screen door.
Awkward encounters at the single's ward.
Awkward encounters at an old folks home.
O Brother Where Art Thou.
Yummy lunch at Kneaders.
Cookies, towels, an umbrella, Justin Bieber merchandise, and one beautiful caged pearl necklace.

Yeah, I had a birthday:)

Thank you to all my wonderful friends and family who made my entrance into adulthood so memorable and magnificent!

I'm just a girl who loves to read.

"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it."

 - J.D. Salinger (The Catcher in the Rye)

Last week I read three books that made me feel this exact way (one of them being The Catcher in the Rye). I also read 1984 and Lord of the Flies. I know a lot of people find these books disturbing and would lock me up if they knew just how much I enjoyed them. Part of the reason I loved them is that I love being creeped out just a little (Criminal Minds, anyone?). Part of it is that human nature really does fascinate me. But probably the biggest part (and I really can't believe I'm admitting this) is because of LeeAnn Drake, my AP Lit teacher. 

Just a little background info: I did not like Drake. And she didn't like me. I can spout as much rubbish about her annoying habit of asking the class to laugh at her jokes or the frustrating way she pronounces her ts as I want, but the truth of the matter is I didn't like her because her opinions were vastly different than my own. English is my killer subject, and it was really hard for me to hear, time and time again, that I was wrong. But I will admit (grudgingly) that I learned tons. And my love for great literature has dramatically increased (Don't get me wrong, I love me some Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, but I've learned they're nowhere near the level of Rodion Raskolnikov and Edna Pontellier.)

Anyway, I'd like to think myself sort of an idealist. I genuinely believe that people are inherently good. I don't understand hatred (besides the petty, such as me and LeeAnn.) Watching Saving Private Ryan almost made me lose my lunch and the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. gave me nightmares for the better part of two months. So one might be surprised to learn that I devoured those books, two days per novel. Or that my favorite book I read in Mrs. Drake's class was Candide. Or that the next book on my list is Animal Farm. 

So why am I so interested in these books? 

Because if there's one thing LeeAnn taught me, it's that a different opinion is not necessarily wrong.

Sometimes I love being a nanny.

I get paid to spend the day with Hannah (7) and Haylie (12) doing fun things like playing at the park, swimming, giving ourselves watermelon manicures, exploring Red Butte gardens, playing all sorts of games, and checking out Clark Planetarium. 

Yeah, it's a blast. I'm the luckiest girl ever.

Also, I miss this kid. He should probably come home. Soon.